If you are on this page, chances are you are coming from my recent Instagram post. And yes, it’s true. @blexicanmua is no more. Although technically, the ‘real’ Blexican MUA switched to @dasiavumakeup a long time ago. But nonetheless, it’s time to move on.
It’s funny, really – I’ve always loved sharing photos and looking at photos of others. Fun fact, I was very big into scrapbooking when I was younger (and had more free time). If you have known me a while, you know that sharing photos and even gifting precious framed moments has always been my thing. I think it comes from being just a very sentimental person. Growing up, my mother always had tons of photo albums and video tapes capturing all the moments from even before we were born. Life passes quickly so taking a minute to stop and look back on fond memories has always been important to me.
Naturally, when social media emerged my interest was peaked. I was never a fan of MySpace or Facebook. To me, both of those platforms involved way more ‘socializing’ vs sharing photos. And being the introverted person that I am, socializing in person was already over stimulating so what was the point of doing it in the privacy of my own home. Lol. On the other hand, I was a huge fan of Ringo and Flickr (goodness, does anybody else remember those??). I mean I guess Flickr is still used today but Google and Apple have pretty much come in and dominated the digital photo album category. Ringo is definitely one for the millenials. Yes, I was THAT person who always posted the highlights of an event.
Then came the birth of Instagram in 2010. About a year later is when I created my first account. I only had like 2 ‘friends’ and mostly I just used the app to use cool filters on my photos (back when ‘Nashville’ and ‘X-Pro II’ were the iconic go to’s). My original username was actually @blexican86 – ‘Blexican’ referring to being Black and Mexican plus 86 being my birth year. I want to say it wasn’t until 2013 when more of my friends started using the platform and staying connected via social media that Instagram became a resourceful tool for me. At the time, I had started working for Sephora as a makeup artist. Wanting a place to showcase some of my work and talk about my favorite products, I decided to change my username to @blexicanMUA – ‘Blexican’ again staying true to my nickname and now ‘MUA’ short for makeup artist (although it wasn’t until years later that I realized people thought I was using ‘mua’ as an onomatopoeia for a kissing sound xoxo). Thus, my feed became a combination of makeup looks, everyday memories with friends and a few inspiring quotes here and there. I created what appeared to be a digital scrapbook.
Then, in 2017, Tj and I made the move to the Dominican Republic. I knew Instagram would be a great way to keep in touch with others but it wasn’t until our motorcycle accident when I realized what an invaluable tool social media can be if used correctly. I was able to keep in touch with a larger amount of people on what was easily the scariest moment of our lives. But it went beyond words – telling someone ‘everything is okay’ doesn’t leave as large as an impact as someone being able to SEE that everything is okay. At that point, I officially transitioned all of my makeup/beauty posts to a new username (@dasiavumakup) and reserved @blexicanmua for life updates and monthly highlights. I love being able to share just a tiny glimpse of the special moments happening in our lives and even more so I love being able to see a glimpse in everyone else’s life. I’ll be the first to admit, I am the worst at picking up the phone or scheduling arrangements to visit everyone when we return home. But being able to see a photo of your new dog, a spiritual accomplishment, or travels of others helps me feel that we are still in connected. Until the new system comes, it will be virtually impossible to remain in contact with all of our dear brothers and sisters.
Thus, as long as this method proves positive, I plan on continuing to use it (until something better comes along of course, lol). Which brings us back to the purpose of this blog post: Welcome @trvlng3foldcrd – short for the nickname we created for ourselves: the ‘Traveling Threefold Cord’. I figured eh, since Tj is who I’m posting about 75% of the time I might as well find a way to include him in my username. Not to mention, I’ve tried to curate my account to feature upbuilding posts about life, our ministry and our travels. While the name may have changed, the posts will still be the same. As of now, I still have no plans in the foreseeable future to use this page as a platform for business. Just as I have no foreseeable plans to profit off of our blog. I just really enjoy capturing moments and sharing them with others.
Like I said…. I’m sentimental.
Enjoy!
Asia Johnson aka ‘BlexicanMUA’
Traveling Threefold Cord 